Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
According to Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov, a Russian drone struck a civilian electric commuter train at the station.
Travelers on a weekday commute from one Ukrainian regional capital to the next were waiting at the platform when the alert sirens went off.
Minutes later, on the morning of October 29, 2026, that platform at Dnipro’s main railway station was the scene of one of the deadliest single strikes on Ukrainian passenger rail this year. A Russian jet-powered drone slammed into the station while a commuter service was preparing to depart, killing at least 13 people and wounding at least five more, according to regional authorities.
The weapon struck a platform where electric train No. 866, running the Dnipro-Zaporizhzhia route, was stationed at the time of impact, state rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia said. Rescue workers, medics and police deployed to the station within minutes.
Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, confirmed the toll in a public update as emergency crews worked on the platform. Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov, speaking to UNN, said a drone had hit a civilian electric train and that many people had been killed, with a large number of others injured.
Siren was sounding when the drone hit
The strike landed while an active air raid warning was already in force over the city. Ukrzaliznytsia noted that despite the alert and announcements of a heightened threat, passengers had remained on the platform waiting for their train.
Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia are two of eastern Ukraine’s largest cities, and the route between them carries workers, families and students daily. Train No. 866 is a standard commuter service, not a military transport.
Part of a widening campaign against the rail network
The attack lands amid a sharp escalation of Russian strikes on Ukrainian rail infrastructure. On the night of October 14, Russian forces hit railway facilities across five regions, including depots, repair yards and stations in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi and Ternopil, delaying more than 100 trains.
Ukrainian officials have described the pattern as a deliberate effort to degrade civilian mobility and the logistics backbone that keeps the country running almost five years into the full-scale war. The Dnipro strike brought that campaign onto a crowded passenger platform, with the regional military administration putting the confirmed death toll at 13 and the number of wounded at a minimum of five.
